We had the good fortune of connecting with Lena Le and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lena, what is the most important factor behind your success?
As a private chef, my food has to taste good to get my clients to come back for more. Beside that, I have to stress about the customer service which is helping our clients planning for their event, consulting them on the menus and entertainment options, calculating prices that fit their budgets, accommodating any food allergies and/or dietary restrictions they have, also be prepared for the change of schedules or venue which might come with or without a proper kitchen, etc… There are some clients that I probably talk to for almost a year before we can proceed with our plan. To be succeed in the food or hospitality industry, you need to have a desire to serve people, patience to help them, to go above and beyond to make their dream event come true!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Lena’s Asian Kitchen is everything I’ve been targeting, dreaming about my whole life; which is combining all of my passions into one business: entrepreneur, philanthropy, and education! Here at Lena’s Asian Kitchen, we are providing healthy & comfort Asian prepared meals to Houston and all cities around. But what I am most excited about is the goal to provide jobs for Domestic Abused Survivors. I am an enthusiastic advocate at Fort Bend Women’s Shelter, and an active member at Young Friends of AVDA and Daya Houston, so I can’t help but wanting to put my business idea for a good cause. Lena’s Asian Kitchen is not a non-profit company, as we’d want to give our DV survivors equity to own the store as they grow with our business,

There’s absolutely nothing easy about opening a start up, you have to wear all the hats and do all the work yourself. Money is not my drive to open a business, but the desire to help those who are in need, is! So I focus my attention on the DV survivors, they need me to open a good business where they can work, they need me to create a loving working environment where they can feel safe. And all the busy bees out there that need me to cook them healthy comfort food, so they can have the strength to keep doing their awesome things. These are all the motivations that help me overcoming any challenges throw my way.

Support Lena’s Asian Kitchen is not only helping us to preserve our rich & wonderful Asian culture, but also to support our mission to stop Domestic Violence. Order our meals, you’re helping a mom running away from an abusive husband or her kid from being the next victim. Let’s create a better place to live for us and for our children!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Houston food scene is so diversed so there’s a lot of places that we can go from casual to high-end: Classic Treebeard for authentic Cajun, Truth BBQ is our new hot BBQ place, Bludorn & Le Jardinier are our best French place, March & Reiki Na are one of the best tasting menu, Hidden Omakase and Uchi for the best Sushi, Ocean Palace and Shabu Zone for the best Dimsum & Japanese Hotpot, etc…

Other activities are fun to do is our scenic parks around the city, we can grill, chill, take a walk, or a hike all around.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have so many people to thank for. But the person who I most thankful for would definitely be my husband, who has been with me every step of the way to help me succeed in this tough industry (especially for female chefs). He is Hoan Le, commercial Land Broker at CBRE by day, and by night he is my dish washer, delivery man, handy man, sous chef and sometimes even my cheerleaders. I couldnt ask for a better man & life partner than Mr Hoan Le 🙂

Website: www.lenasasiankitchen.com

Instagram: lenasasiankitchen.htx

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/trangle752

Facebook: Lena’s Asian Kitchen

Image Credits
Foodie Cinematics LLC

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